Austria’s chess grandmaster and reigning state champion in standard chess, Valentin Dragnev, is tackling the 279 kilometers by bike to the 45th Chess Olympiad, which will take place in Budapest from September 11th to 22nd, 2024. The passionate cyclist will lead the Austrian national team, which will compete with 196 other nations in the open class. There are 184 national teams competing in the women’s category.
Dragnev, who successfully led the Austrian team at the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India, and at the 2023 European Chess Championship in Budva, celebrated a historic success in Budva: Austria defeated Norway, and Dragnev achieved a draw against the former world champion Magnus Carlsen – an exciting competition that only ended in a draw after 66 moves.
Dragnev also impressed in 2023 at the European Individual Championships in Serbia, where he defeated former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov and finished tenth.
Vice Chancellor and Sports Minister Werner Kogler, together with the President of the Austrian Chess Federation, Michael Stöttinger, gave Dragnev a ceremonial farewell to the Olympics and wished him much success for the tournament.
Links:
Website Olympiade: https://chessolympiad2024.fide.com
World Chess Federation website: https://www.fide.com
Austrian Chess Federation website: https://www.chess.at
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